Pokémon Adventure: The Hoenn Journeys
by AlexTenThousand
Summary: Follow Alex and Nicholas in their journey through the Hoenn region, in a world full of adventure, challenges, and dangers... a dark shadow appears over Hoenn, and soon old friends may find themselves against a threat bigger than themselves.
1. The dawn of a new adventure

There comes a time in a boy's life when he's ready to face the world, to leave the nest and find his place, wherever it may be. When he's ready to leave everything behind, his home, his town, and surpass his own limits to go on his personal adventure, even if he knows that it won't be an easy one. And one of them is Nicholas, a young boy from Littleroot Town, who finally turned 12.

"I'm so excited! Now that I'm 12, I'm allowed to go on my own journey and get my first pokémon!"

His self-encouragement was soon cut short by a tapping on his left leg, where a small creature angrily pushed him.

"Dew, dew!"

"I'm sorry Budew, I meant second pokémon of course!"

Kneeling down, he took the small pokémon in his hands, and hugged her, the small rosebud pokémon happily nuzzling against the green-haired boy.

"Aren't you happy we're finally gonna go on our own adventure throughout Hoenn? I'm so happy professor Birch agreed to let me have one of the starters anyway, so you're gonna have a Treecko as a buddy!"

Budew was clearly as excited as her owner was, and almost jumped away from his hug, at which he put her on his desk.

"Together, we'll become the best trainers of the region, and I'll be the most skilled pokémon breeder in Hoenn, and then..."

"You're still awake, Nicholas? I told you to go to sleep, or no pokémon and no journey!"

Startled, in an almost comically fast speed Nick changed into his pajamas and turned off the lights, excited and dreaming about the adventures he would live from the next day forward.

The next day…

Standing in front of his house, Nick sighed, resigned to his mother inspection of his backpack and clothes, her Bellossom almost mimicking her and almost making Nick laugh.

"Let's see, first aid kit, map, underwear, repellent, toothbrush..."

"Mom, it's fine, you checked it yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, I'm gonna be late!"

Smiling, she kissed him on the forehead and held a tear.

"Sure, now go, and remember, me and your father will always root for you! And don't forget to call from time to time!"

"I'll do my best! Bye mom, bye Bellossom, and don't forget to water my bonsai!"

And with a little sadness in his heart, he began walking to the southern outskirts of the town, towards the rather impressive building that housed professor Birch's lab, and at a crossroad, he found another kid, that was seemingly waiting for him.

"Hey there Alex! Going to the lab?"

Turning around, Alex smiled as he saw his childhood friend, taking his hands out of the pockets of his blue jacket and placing them behind his head, ruffling his dark blue hair in the process.

"Yeah, now that I can finally start my journey nothing is gonna stop me from becoming the Hoenn Champion!"

Right after that though, he stared at his friend through his bright orange glasses, and took on a puzzled expression.

"Are you sure you're gonna be fine with that huge backpack?"

Compared to Alex, Nick's backpack was definitely bigger and rounder, and made him look like green Blastoise.

"Sure, I think my mom packed half of my room in this… anyway, did you make up your mind on which pokémon you'll choose?"

As soon as Nick asked that, Alex's cocky grin came back, and pointed his finger to the sky.

"Of course! I'll choose the coolest pokémon that there is, Treecko!"

And as soon as he said that, silence fell down on the scene.

Meanwhile, at the lab…

"Where are those two? I swear, they were always late, even at trainer school..."

Looking out of the window, professor Birch looked at the horizon, not a sign of the two new trainers.

"I'm sure they'll come, professor. Nick has already proclaimed he'll be the best breeder in Hoenn, and I'm sure Alex will want to follow in his father's footsteps as a Pokémon Champion."

"But if they don't come in time, they'll have to wait until the breeder's farm sends me more starters… oh wait, maybe it's them… but what's going..."

Before the professor could finish his phrase, both Alex and Nick came in through the door running, brawling and bickering.

"I said it first, I'll have a Treecko!"

"No, you didn't I said it first! And you already have a grass type!"

"Well, I want another grass type!"

The two kept fighting, and Birch had to intervene to stop them.

"Kids, stop fighting! Another trainer already chose Treecko!"

Both of them immediately stopped fighting hearing that, looking a little disappointed and frustrated.

"So that means..."

Waiting for them on a table at the center of the lab were other two pokémon, Torchic and Mudkip, both looking happy and trying to look as awesome as possible in hopes of being chosen.

While Nick looked rather indecisive, Alex immediately got up, and approached Torchic, offering him his right arm, the pokémon happily jumping on it.

"Chic, chic, Torchic!"

"That's right little guy! I'll take Torchic, professor."

Following his friend, Nick approached Mudkip and patted him on his head, prompting him to playfully squirt water on his face.

"Perfect! These are their pokéballs, and these are your own pokédex."

Taking a box from near his desk, Birch handed them 6 pokéballs and a couple of pokédex, the latest models, both a blazing red and brand new.

"Ok, as you already know besides being a complete encyclopedia, it will help you take part in all events that take place in Hoenn, not only those related to the Pokémon League, but also Contests and acts as an ID!"

Both of them looked at him with rather bored expressions, as they had learned all of it already at trainer school, but knew that once professor Birch started with his explanations, there was no way of stopping him.

"Now, at the Pokémon Center in Oldale Town you'll be able to sign up for the Pokémon League! Now, good luck, and remember that pokémon are your friends!"

Excited, both of them rushed through town, finally able to start their own journey, more excited than ever before.

As the wind blew on the tall grass of Route 101, the old friends shook hands, knowing that from that day forward they would be rivals.

"So this is where our ways part..."

"But soon, we'll fight each other. Let's meet at the League, promise?"

Nick looked at him, and with a smile full of determination, he just said

"At the League!"

And so, with a promise, their journey finally began, the young birds leaving the nest to find their place in the world.


	2. The hellish ninja and the musician

The first day of training was going surprisingly well for Nick.

Mudkip had proven to be easy to tame and train, his Water Gun attack proving strong enough to dispose of pretty much any wild pokémon with a single hit, and generally following him around, tuning perfectly with his trainer's happy-go-lucky attitude as they strolled though the forest.

Between fights, Nick kept taking photos, excited about being finally able to explore the region on his own.

"It sure is something else entirely being out here on your own... this place is gorgeous…"

Following a passing Beautifly, he soon found himself in an open field, with many other Beautifly busy drinking nectar from the flowers.

Looking around, he felt like he stumbled into one of the paintings that he saw at his friend's house many times and that Alex's sister loved to paint.

"I must take a picture of this… Budew, join Mudkip!"

In a flash of light Budew came out of her pokéball, immediately rushing to the front to be in the photo with Mudkip.

"Perfect! Now, hold still..."

As he got some distance between him and his pokémon, however, Nick made a huge mistake: walking backwards, he found himself stepping on something soft and fluffy.

And before he could process what was happening, a growl told him what he stepped on.

A Poochyena's tail, and a rather angry one.

Realizing his mistake, Nick backed off, trying to make the angry pokémon calm down.

"Hey, buddy… I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..."

Apparently though, the Poochyena wasn't going to calm down, as it suddenly began howling, and in a matter of seconds, before Nick, Budew and Mudkip there were at least another 10 angry Poochyena.

"Well, only one thing left to do… RUUUUUUUUUN!"

Immediately calling back Budew in her pokéball, Nick and Mudkip started to run, in the hopes of reaching Oldale Town quick enough.

The pack was relentless in hunting them down, as all the various attempts from Mudkip to scare them away failed: as quick as one of them was stopped by his Water Gun, another one took his place.

"I already said I'm sorry, what else do they want?"

"Muuud..."

Mudkip only answered with a puzzled expression, as it looked like even he couldn't manage to try and get them to reason.

With Oldale Town on the horizon, their hopes suddenly sparked… until Nick tripped on a rock, bringing Mudkip down with him, and before they could regain their footing, found themselves surrounded.

"M-Maybe we can discuss this?"

"Cyndaquil, SmokeScreen!"

Suddenly, in a fraction of a second the whole group was suddenly thrown into a thick cloud of smoke, and before Nick could process what was going on, both Nick and Mudkip felt themselves lifted from the ground entirely, flying through the air and from tree to tree, soon enough ending up at the outskirts of Oldale Town.

"T-Thanks, whoever you are, you really saved me..."

Coughing a bit of smoke, Nick looked up, noticing the bizarre jumpsuit that his savior was wearing, white and red mixed in, and the purple scarf. But above all, he noticed that his savior in fact, was a girl dressed up as a ninja, her long raven black hair tied behind her head by a golden hair band, and a Cyndaquil with a red scarf lazily sitting on her right shoulder.

"Don't mention it. Helping those who are in need is my duty as a ninja! Uh... are you ok?"

The girl suddenly halted her presentation, as Nick stared at her almost petrified, sparks shining in his eyes, like a kid in front of a pile of presents under a Christmas tree.

"A ninja?! I didn't even think they existed!"

Looking rather proud, the girl stood in pose, her Cyndaquil mimicking her pose on her shoulder, almost looking like she came out of a tokusatsu show.

"Yup! My name is a mystery, my techniques are secrets passed through generations by the ninjas of the secret Mahogany village, I'm the devilish ninja of Mahogany! You can call me… Devil!"

Nick looked like he just met a superhero, both him and Mudkip amazed at the silly presentation of the young girl in front of them.

"Wait, Mahogany? Isn't that in Johto? Why are you in Hoenn?"

"Simply put it, I traveled through Johto and fought many strong trainers, and thought I was ready to become a ninja master, but I was proven wrong, so I decided to continue my journey… and my finger landed on Hoenn on the map."

"But… what's a master ninja? Shouldn't you already be a master to become a ninja?"

Sighing, Devil performed a perfect facepalm, before looking down on the still sitting boy in front of him.

"Uuuuuh, what does a rookie like you know?"

Feeling insulted, Nick immediately jumped up, just like when Alex used to challenge him when they were little, in situations that usually led them into trouble.

"I'm not a rookie! I went to trainer school!"

"Yeah, I saw Hoenn trainer schools there! I had to come and save you!"

"I was surrounded!"

The bickering was quickly turning into a proper fight, both of them yelling and shouting.

"Then I challenge you to a fight, and we'll see if you're a real trainer or just a rookie!"

"Challenge accepted!"

Nick was clearly nervous, as he was about to face his first real trainer fight, after not even a full day of being a trainer.

"Ok, this will be a 1 vs 1, no change allowed! Are you ready?"

Mudkip looked at Devil with a determined look, probably even more excited than his own trainer about his first fight against a trained pokémon, and almost gave out a warcry.

With a smirk, Devil took one of her pokéballs from under the belt of her jumpsuit, and almost posing, threw it like a shuriken.

"Go, Smeargle!"

"Smeargle!"

Perplexed, Nick took out his brand new pokédex, excited about using it for the first time, and as soon as he pointed it to the pokémon in front of him, a cold, robotic voice said

 **Smeargle: Painter Pokémon**

 **Smeargle marks the boundaries of its territory using a body fluid that leaks out from the tip of its tail. Over 5000 different marks from this pokémon have been found.**

"Don't let looks deceive you, Smeargle has trained with me since I was little, he's a ninja just like me!"

"Then let's begin, Mudkip, Tackle!"

Before he could reach Smeargle though, he had jumped off, and managedto stop just inches before hitting a nearby tree and hurting himself.

"You're never gonna win if you're so slow! Double team!"

Suddenly seeing many copies of Smeargle, Mudkip was disoriented, as each of them seemed to run around him mockingly.

"Don't panic, Mudkip! Spin in circles and use Water Gun!"

Despite being a decision took on the fly, it worked, the water dissolving the copies and hitting the real Smeargle before it could take Mudkip by surprise, but doing little to no damage.

"Not bad at all, you've got quick thinking by your side, I've got to give you that, but it's not gonna be enough! Thunderpunch!"

With impressive speed, Smeargle charged Mudkip, and before Nick could tell him to use Mud-Slap, hit him with a powerful punch, the electricity and strength of the hit sending him flying away, Nick catching him, exhausted.

"Muuuuud…"

"Well, just as I thought, still a rookie. Try not to get surrounded by Poochyena anymore!"

Before he could say anything, another cloud of smoke surrounded her, and when it finally dissolved, she was gone.

"Damn her… who do she think she is? Next time, I'll teach her a lesson..."

Calling Mudkip back in his pokéball, Nick quickly rushed to the pokémon center, to heal his injuries. While he waited though, he reached for the terminal, and before he could figure out how to register, another nurse approached him.

"A new trainer that wants to register to the League? Follow me."

Slightly startled by the sudden voice, Nick followed her to a nearby counter, and gave her his pokédex, which she inserted in a slot near a computer.

"Don't worry, everyone is disoriented at the start of the journey, but it's our job to help you since many start here in Oldale town. Oh, it's done.

On the monitor behind the nurse, Nick's ID picture appeared, and lots of informations, followed by the pictures of his pokémon.

 **Contestant: Nick Ruby**

 **Home city: Littleroot Town**

 **Badges: 0**

 **Welcome to the Hoenn League**

"Here, it's done. Now, you'll have to collect 8 Badges from the League-approved gyms, and in 10 months time reach Ever Grande City for the Ever Grande Conference, where you'll fight other trainers who managed to win the Badges. Good luck!"

Handing him back the pokédex, the nurse smiled at him, and hearing the beep of the healing room, reached for the other counter, where Budew and Mudkip waited for him, both back in shape, and thanked the nurse before going out, ready to continue with his journey.

Just after that though, he noticed quite the ruckus going on near, and the roaring of motorcycles.

Wanting to check what was going on, he ran towards the scene, and noticed a group of bikers running in circles around a girl with their motorcycles, and as the dust settled a little, saw the same girl that helped him before.

"If you pass through here, you have to pay us!"

"And why should I pay? You're just a bunch of stray Houndour who need to find a job."

Devil's mocking didn't help the situation, and all of them took out their pokémon, four Muk surrounding her.

"You little brat! We'll teach you what happens to disrespectful kids who try to pass through our territory!"

"HEY, LEAVE HER ALONE!"

Before he could realize what he was doing, Nick jumped in to help Devil, despite most people knowing that it would be a bad decision to take.

"What are you doing here, rookie? You'll only get yourself hurt!"

"I'm not one to leave a friend behind when she's in trouble! And I'm Nick, so stop calling me rookie!"

A surprised expression suddenly appeared on Devil's face, surprised that Nick considered her a friend, but her thoughts were brought back on their situation by the bikers themselves.

"That doesn't change anything, it just means we'll have two brats to teach a lesson to!"

"Cyndaquil, Mudkip, go!"

Almost in unison, Devil and Nick sent their pokémon against them, the combination of their attacks soon knocking out the boss' Muk, the other bikers running away once their boss was defeated, morale sinking with the defeat of the leader.

"We won!"

"I'll have to admit it, you're not bad roo… I mean, Nick."

"See? I have to be skilled, so I'll become the top breeder in all of Hoenn!"

Devil smiled and gave him a thumbs up, as she admired people with that kind of determination.

"That's a nice dream, for sure!"

"Hey, why don't we travel together?"

"W-What?"

Nick's proposal was sudden, and she didn't expect it: after all, ninjas acted alone, and wasn't used at the idea of a traveling companion.

"Yeah! We both a have a dream we want to fulfill, right? You wanna be a ninja master and I wanna be a breeder, and we'll have to face tough enemies, so why not join forces? We'll become even stronger, and we'll be able to reach our objectives!"

Nick's genuine enthusiasm made her smile, and shook his hand that he had extended during his passionate speech.

"Well, what are we waiting for? You have to collect Badges, don't you?"

Smiling, the newfound friends walked towards the following Route, ready for new adventures in the Hoenn Region.

 _Meanwhile, on Route 103…_

The exhausted Taillow fell on the ground with a thud, unable to keep up with Torchic's fire.

"Excellent work Taillow, and now let's capture it!"

As Torchic stepped away, Alex took a pokéball from his backpack and threw it on Taillow, the pokémon entering the ball in a flash of red light, and making it move slightly as it still struggled, the button on the center blinking red.

"Come on..."

Suddenly, the ball stopped moving, and a sound announced the successful capture. Rushing to it, Alex held it high in a victory pose, his first pokémon captured.

"I've got a Taillow, yeah!"

"Tor Torchic!"

Alex and Torchic's celebrations were soon cut short, as they heard the sound of a violin near them, and looked around perplexed.

"Quite the impressive capture, young trainer, bravo!"

"What? Who are you?"

 _To be continued..._


	3. A match made in Petalburg!

"Who are you?"

Alex was extremely surprised and astonished, how could he not notice that he had been observed for the entire time?

Coming out of the shadow of the trees in quite the theatrical way, a bizarre-looking guy showed himself, still playing the violin with quite the skill.

"Ho ho ho ho, I'm mortified, I simply don't know where my manners went. I'm Matthew, traveling musician and pokémon trainer, at your service!"

The bizarre guy bowed politely, giving off an aura of elegance despite the weirdness, even his clothes being rather bizarre for a traveling trainer, an amethyst suit that almost matched his long wisteria hair, making him look like he was ready for a concert or a Contest rather than traveling.

"Yeah, nice to meet you, buuuuut… I have places to go, gyms to challenge and I'd prefer to get to Petalburg before evening, so… bye!"

Alex began to run, but before he could get away he felt someone pulling on his disheveled midnight blue hair, but since Matthew was still where he was, it couldn't be him.

"dreeeeavus..."

"H-Hey, let me go!"

Alex kept struggling comically as the Misdreavus pulled on his hair, seemingly having fun messing with him.

"Let him go, Misdreavus."

As the small ghost pokémon let his hair go and returned to Matthew's side, Alex turned around with an angry expression, face turning red out of rage, remarkably looking like a Fire pokémon in that moment, something Nick often told him when they were kids.

"What the heck do you want from me? I don't even know you!"

"I know, I'm here to challenge you!"

"You could have said it sooner, you know?"

Alex was growing tired of all of this, usually being short-tempered when someone didn't get straight at the point, and Matthew was irritating him beyond breaking point, but he couldn't refuse his first real challenge as a trainer.

Preparing himself mentally, he thought of all the cool poses he could use to throw the pokéball, something that kept him busy for over a week before his journey began, and decided to throw it like a baseball player, looking rather silly doing it.

"Go, Torchic, I choose you!"

"It's showtime, Grovyle!"

"Cool, I've never seen a Grovyle before!"

Taking out his pokédex and seemingly calming down, Alex immediately pointed it at Grovyle

 **Grovyle: Wood Gecko pokémon**

 **This pokémon adeptly flies from branch to branch in trees. In a forest, no pokémon can ever hope to catch a fleeing Grovyle however fast they may be.**

"Nice, I have the type advantage in this!"

Grinning, Matthew scenically shook his head, and replied immediately.

"You would be surprised to see how strong Grovyle is! Quick Attack!"

Grovyle reached Torchic before he could move and hit him with his shoulder, causing Torchic to back down, claws holding the ground.

"Counter with Scratch!"

"Torchic!"

Jumping on Grovyle's face, he quickly moved his his legs on his face and scratched him repeatedly, causing him to back down.

"Torchic is strong, but not strong enough yet! Grass Whistle!"

"WHAT?!"

Taking out a leaf, Grovyle blew on it and the music coming from it immediately knocked Torchic down, making him fall asleep on the spot, causing Alex to panic, not expecting a Grovyle to know such a move.

"And now you'll experience the requiem of your defeat! Leaf Blade!"

Immediately tackling Torchic, the leaves on Grovyle's arms began shining, and hit Torchic with a powerful slash, sending him flying against a tree.

"Torchic, wake up, quick!"

With Grovyle dashing to deal the final blow, Torchic miraculously woke up, and began shining with a red and orange aura, causing even Grovyle to stop in his tracks.

"That's Blaze! Now who's gonna get his requiem, or whatever you said? Torchic, Ember!"

With his ability powering him up, the usual stream of sparks turned into a series of fireballs, hitting Grovyle and causing him to catch fire and run around panicking, before falling on the ground, exhausted.

"Yes! First battle, won! That's how you start your career as a League champion!"

Matthew called back Grovyle in his pokéball, and slowly clapped at Alex.

"Just as I thought, an excellent trainer! What do you say we travel together?"

"What?"

"Yes! I could sing songs celebrating your victories, and together we… where is he?"

As Matthew was still going on with his ramblings, Alex had ran away, hoping he could put enough distance between him and what he considered pretty much a weirdo, stopping to catch a breath only after passing again Oldale Town.

"That should be enough..."

"Hey, you could have said we were already leaving, you left me behind"

Alex jumped, hearing Matthew's voice behind him, who somehow managed to follow him despite running as fast as he could.

"LISTEN UP, OK? Number 1, don't follow me around, number 2, I don't want a traveling companion, number 3… hey is that a Moltres?"

"Where?"

Once again, Alex rushed away, hoping that Matthew would be too distracted to follow him, speeding through Route 102.

"There was no Moltres to be seen, friend, you might need to clean your glasses!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Startled, Alex tripped over, crashing on the ground head first.

"Why are you screaming?"

"AND WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME AROUND?"

In his typical over-dramatic way, Matthew knelt, almost like a spotlight was lighting him up on the stage, while Grovyle played some sad music behind him

"I beg of you, let me come with you! I've always dreamed of traveling alongside someone, to live countless adventures, face challenges and share good and bad times!"

It was truly a pathetic scene, but Alex felt guilty for screaming at him and leaving him behind (or at least trying to…), and muttered a faint "Ok..."

Hearing his words Matt immediately jumped up, almost looking like his depression was an act he threw together to convince him.

"This requires some music to celebrate!"

"I know I'm gonna regret this..."

 _Meanwhile, Devil and Nick…_

Nick kept kicking a rock around with his hands in his pockets, with a miffed expression expression on his face.

"Are you still grumpy because of those trees I burned down? I already said I'm sorry!"

"Yes, I'm still angry! Why did you have to burn them down for your painting? You didn't even get the result you wanted!"

Devil sighed, trying to think about a way to cheer Nick up, when she saw Petalburg Woods in the distance, and had a wonderful idea.

"Hey, what about a challenge?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you see the Petalburg Woods, there in the distance? The first to get a pokémon wins, and we have an hour of time! What do you say?"

The idea of getting a new pokémon, especially another grass pokémon excited him greatly, and nodded in agreement, the smile coming back on his face. And with that, they both entered the woods, Devil immediately climbing up a tree and jumping off in the distance, while Nick looked around.

"Let's see, where could they hide? I have to win this!"

Going deeper into the dark parts of the woods, Nick wandered for a couple of minutes to no avail, the few pokémon he saw running away too fast to try and catch them, until he stumbled on what looked like a bizarre ensemble of yellow mushrooms, before realizing that those weren't mushrooms at all, and took out the pokédex

 **Shroomish, the mushroom pokémon**

 **Shroomish live in damp soil in the depths of forests. They are often found keeping still under fallen leaves. If it senses danger, it shakes his body and scatters toxic spores from his head.**

"A Shroomish! It would be a perfect addition to my team, but it's better if I take one and go away… wait, that one is red and yellow..."

Nick had read in school about pokémon that because of genetic anomaly had different colors, but never seen one, and thought it would be his key to victory for the challenge.

Treading carefully, he tried not to step on one of them, made it all the more hard by the fact that they were mostly covered in leaves, and combined with the darkness of the woods, made them almost invisible.

He was finally near the shiny Shroomish, all of them still asleep, when suddenly, he stepped on a twig, breaking it.

"Shroo? Shroom shroom shroom shroom."

Slowly turning around, Nick saw all of the Shroomish turned towards him, with a rather angry look on their faces.

"H-Hi there, little guys..."

"Shroomish!"

Like a small explosion, they all began shaking, filling the air with toxic spores. Suddenly, Nick began hallucinating, running around saying nonsense.

"Ooooh, look at all those little mushrooms… oh, there are so many dragon pokémon in the sky…"

 _Devil, in the meantime…_

"Damn, there's nothing around here… wait, someone is near!"

Hearing voices nearby, Devil hid behind a tree, and peeked towards the direction from where the voices came from.

"No, mine is bigger!"

"Yeah, keep dreaming buddy, mine is definitely bigger!"

"Oh no, those are… bug catchers! I hate them, they just talk about the bug pokémon they catch and how big they are… I better get out of here..."

Before Devil could sneak away though, the bug catchers turned around and saw her, almost evil grins on their faces.

"Hey, a girl!"

"Let's how her our... bugs!"

"NO NO NO, STAY AWAY!"

Before she could climb up a tree they began chasing her, running around the forest and causing havoc, until a crowd of bug pokémon followed her and the bug catchers. Taking out Cyndaquil, she ordered him another Smoke Screen, but when the smoke settled, she wasn't there anymore.

"Where did she go?"

"She can't be too far, and the trees aren't high enough to hide, let's keep looking."

The bug catchers kept running, looking for Devil, but little did they knew that her and Cyndaquil were still there. As soon as she was sure that they were far enough, she removed the cloak and the leaves she put on it.

"It's times like these that I'm thankful for camouflaging techniques!"

"Quil!"

"I wonder where Nick is, could he have already found a pokémon to catch? Wait what's that?!"

Hearing the sound of leaves moving, she readied out her cloak to hide once more, but what came out of the ground was just a small pokémon.

"Ninca?"

"A Nincada! Go pokéball!"

As it was looking around, Devil threw a pokéball at him and without effort caught him, raising the ball in a victory pose.

"Victory is mine! Wait… isn't this Nick's voice?"

Out of a bush came out Nick, still dancing around in a ridiculous way, clearly still under the effect of the spores, and the Shroomish following him around angrily.

"What the… Cyndaquil, drive away those pokémon with a Flamethrower"

A stream of flames lit the dark woods and hit both the Shroomish herd and Nick, causing them to flee and Nick to snap out of the trance.

Coughing, Nick looked around him, still confused by what happened and slightly toasted by the flames of Cyndaquil.

"What happened? Why are you here Devil?"

"Man, those spores sure had quite the effect on you… wait, one is still following you"

"Wait, it's the one I wanna catch!"

The shiny Shroomish was in fact at Nick's feet, rolling on the grass laughing, apparently finding funny both Nick's reaction and what had happened with Cyndaquil, and didn't even struggle as Nick threw the pokéball, an easy catch too.

"Wait, but we've both caught a pokémon, how do we decide who won?"

"Well… first to reach the exit wins!"

"Wait, don't you try to cheat, rookie!"

 _Back in Petalburg City…_

After quite the walk, Alex and Matt finally reached the city, and before anything else, the blue-haired trainer began looking for the gym, eager to try and win his first badge.

"Do you have any idea of where it could be?"

Alex kept looking on the map with little to no result, never being great at orientating or reading normal maps, and sometimes wished he had a PokéNav.

"I have no idea, perhaps we could ask around? I'm sure everyone knows where it is..."

"Good idea… excuse me miss, do you know where the gym..."

Before Alex could ask anything though, Matthew had disappeared from his side, and was kneeling before the girl, holding her hand and putting on another rather ridiculous scene

"I all of my life, I've never seen such beauty before my eyes, your auburn hair are like leaves on golden autumn trees, your green eyes like hills shining with dew in the morning, would you be so kind to show me your pa…"

"Grovyle!"

Coming out of the pokéball without order, Grovyle hit Matthew with a powerful Slam attack, knocking him out and dragging him away.

"Is… is your friend ok?"

"Well, he has… problems… anyway, could you tell me where the gym is?"

"Sure, you just need to follow the road and turn right after the first crossroad!"

"Thanks! Let's go, Grovyle..."

And so, with Grovyle dragging a still unconscious Matt behind, they soon reached the gym, looking like a massive dojo with a pokéball right above the door, and the logo of the Hoenn League on a couple on the sides of the sliding doors.

"Here it is, finally..."

"Proceed without fear and never hesitate, my friend!"

"How did you wake up so fast?"

"I'm surprisingly used to it..."

Just when Alex was about to step inside, his heart beating like crazy because of the nervousness of his first real challenge, the first real step towards the Ever Grande Conference, he heard a familiar voice in the distance, and squinted, cleaning his glasses to see better.

"Is that… is that Nick? With a girl?!"

In the distance in fact, running and bickering like usual, there were Nick and Devil, arguing about who had come first to the entrance to Petalburg Woods.

"Is he your friend?"

"Yeah, he's Nick, my childhood friend.. h-hey, don't say anythi- too late..."

"HEY NICK, HERE!"

As Matt's voice reached them, they both looked perplexed in his direction.

"Hey, is that guy dressed in purple calling you?"

"Yeah, but I don't know him… but that's my friend Alex!"

With a resigned sigh, Alex greeted Nick, made even more nervous by the idea of having a bigger public on his first gym battle.

"Hi Nick… I was about to challenge the gym, but I see you're busy these days..."

"Hey, don't get any weird ideas, kiddo! I'm Devil, and I'm a ninja"

"Pffffft, a ninja, hahahahaha"

Devil immediately glared towards Matt as he laughed, looking like she was about to beat him up, Nick holding her the only thing from actually preventing her to do it.

"You little..."

"Who's your friend anyway?"

"I'm Matthew, traveling musician, at your service"

"Hey, would you please stop bickering? I have a gym match now!"

With Devil and Matt still arguing, Alex entered the gym, the group following him inside and sitting on the stands as guided by one of Norman's students, and soon Norman himself showed him.

He seemed incredibly strong already, giving off an air of experience and wisdom.

"I'm Norman, the Petalburg Gym leader, and you would be?"

"I'm Alex from Littleroot Town, and I'm here to challenge you for the Balance Badge!"

Norman nodded, never betraying an air of superiority and experience, making Alex slightly nervous, and proceeded to explain the rules of the gym.

"Very well, I accept your challenge. The rules are simple, each of us will use three pokémon, and only the challenger will be able to change pokémon..."

"Ehm… I only have two pokémon though..."

"Hmmm… still a beginner and already challenging me… very well, if you think you're ready, we'll just use two, the rules still apply."

Nodding, Alex braced himself, and threw his pokéball, sending out Torchic, while Norman sent out Vigoroth

"Not even evolved your starter?"

"Don't underestimate me! Focus energy!"

Charging up, Torchic surrounded himself in a red aura, and barely managed to dodge a powerful Slash from Vigoroth, backing off.

"Great! Now, Ember!"

Despite hitting him, the attack didn't seem to faze him, shocking Alex and immediately responding with a Focus Punch, knocking Torchic out.

"Torchic is not capable of fighting anymore, Vigoroth wins!"

"Torchic, come back… grrrr, go, Taillow!"

Alex was clearly nervous, not expecting his first real opponent to be this strong, as Vigoroth seemingly took no damage and was far from being even remotely tired.

"You're clearly not prepared for this, you should surrender."

"Never! Wing Attack!"

Taillow's speed allowed her to strike Vigoroth before he could counter, but barely able to dodge a Focus Punch that would have probably knocked her out too.

"Double Team, and then another Wing Attack!"

Vigoroth stood still as Taillow attacked him, waiting for the right occasion, until Norman saw where she was striking from.

"Behind you, Focus Punch!"

Taillow was unable to dodge the attack, was sent flying just like Torchic, knocked out too, sealing Alex's defeat.

"Taillow is no more capable of fighting! The challenger is out of pokémon, the victory goes to gym leader Norman."

Nick and the rest of the group immediately rushed to Alex, who was clearly bitter for his loss, not against Norman or his pokémon, but against himself. He had been too cocky and it only led him to his defeat, and it hurt pretty badly.

"Thanks for the fight, mister Norman."

"It was a pleasure, I hope you'll challenge the gym again once you've won a couple of badges and your pokémon are strong enough to face mine."

Nodding, Alex left the gym, heading towards the Pokémon Center, Nick immediately rushing to his side.

"Hey, are you ok pal?"

"Nick… this will be the last time you'll see me losing, because from now on I'll keep training and winning, until I'll be the Hoenn League Champion."

With that, Alex left for the pokémon center, Matt following him while Nick thought about what Alex said.

"Well, your friend is sure quite the steadfast type!"

"Yeah, you can be he is. That's why I'll have to train hard not to fall behind!"

 _Rustboro City, in front of the Devon Corporation building…_

"See? That's the Devon building"

"But boss, what's our business with it?"

"Because their labs have some interesting stuff… and we love interesting stuff!"


End file.
